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LINCOLNTON––North Carolina’s homeless problem ranks it at 18th in the nation.

And according to journalist Jordan Meadows, the Tarheel State is ranked fifth amongst its fellow Southern states for homelessness. Writing in The Carolinian in January, Meadows explicated the problem further. America experienced a nationwide increase in homelessness last year, reaching its highest levels since 2007. On average, about one in every 1,250 North Carolinians is without a home.

Mitzi Williams put a local face to this problem on Thursday. The executive director of Christian Ministry of Lincoln County, Williams talked about one of her organization’s clients, known as “Mrs. Janice.”

“Mrs. Janice is a precious, elderly lady that comes to the ministry every day,” she revealed. “Why does she come every day? Because she is homeless. Mrs. Janice walks with a walker and comes to us every morning and sits in our lobby, working word-search puzzles and watching soap operas and occasionally taking a nap in a straight chair. She’s in our lobby until we close at 1 p.m., and then she goes over to our Day Retreat until 4 p.m. Then she heads to Hesed House (Lincoln County’s only homeless shelter; also located in Lincolnton).

“But what does she do on the weekends?” Williams continued rhetorically. “We are closed on Saturday and Sunday, and so is Hesed House until the evening. She sits outside at Hesed House during the day until they open in the evening. On Sunday, someone volunteers to take the residents to church, so she goes to church on Sunday and then back to Hesed House to sit outside and wait until they open.”

She noted that Janice is possessed of the sweetest personality and best attitude.

“Despite the fact that this is her life,” she added. “We wanted to tell you of her so that you can think of her when and if it comes to a point in your life that you are needing to go into an assisted-living facility, and you are complaining about it. Think of Mrs. Janice, who cannot wait for the day when she has a place with her own bed, where she is dry and warm and has three hot meals a day.”

According to Washington, D.C.-based research analyst and nurse Tib McPhersone, himself formerly homeless for five years in California (the state with exponentially the worst homeless problem), many people work full-time jobs and are without homes; an increasingly and shockingly common phenomenon, given today’s terrible economic realities. McPhersone himself lived out of his van just a few years ago, making use of a 24-hour gym membership to facilitate bathroom and shower needs.

“In short,” he said, “when you’re living homeless while carrying a job, you do your absolute best to be stealthy homeless. You find a nice, safe and quiet place to lay your head. You look for a place that gives you the best chance of providing a decent night’s sleep without attracting the attention of the local neighborhood busybodies and thus the local authorities. In my own case, I purchased a van that I equipped with a nice, comfy pillowtop mattress. I had a revolving cache of places that I could park for a night or two without bothering anyone or having anyone bother me. I made certain that I never stayed long enough to get noticed and didn’t come back to that spot for a couple of weeks. I worked. I cashed my checks. I stayed out of trouble and avoided other homeless people. It was lonely sometimes. But eventually, I had paid off my debts and saved up enough money to purchase a home outside of California, without the burden of a loan.”

A growing problem

According to U.S. News & World Report, California’s homeless population exceeds 170,000 and is the only such state statistic numbering in the six figures. No other state comes remotely close.

And counterintuitively, the problem is actually worse north of the border, at least in terms of percentages. According to Canadian-based religious nonprofit Regeneration, more than a third of all residents in the Great White North, some 36 percent, have either experienced homelessness themselves, or they know someone who has.

The homeless problem in Canada is actually worse, at least in terms of percentages.

Numerous factors can increase the risk of homelessness for any given person, including:

• income inequality;
• a lack of affordable housing;
• a lack of family or community support;
• limited access to public services;
• limited access to resources for mental health and addiction issues;
• and systemic discrimination.

According to the United States Office of Housing and Urban Development (or HUD), some 650,000 people across America are unhoused. That same number in Canada is estimated at between 150,000 and 300,000.

Brian Gregory, a public-affairs officer for the National Security Agency for more than 20 years, concurs with McPhersone. Stereotypes and misconceptions abound about the unhoused, says Gregory, who has a master’s degree in business administration. He recently noted that he when he was homeless, he knew others in his same boat who had degrees, patents and more, bucking the popular––albeit statistically quantifiable and demonstrable––notion that most homeless people are mentally ill in some way.

“All I saw was prejudice and assumptions that I was homeless and deserved to be because of something I’d done wrong,” said Gregory. “People can’t overcome their own prejudices and stereotypes, even though I showed up to Starbuck’s daily in clean clothes, freshly bathed and smelling good; even though I carried my stuff in a professional-looking suitcase. The moment they learned I was homeless, their demeanor shifted.”

All too often, says Gregory, prospective employers won’t look at homeless job candidates. This is down to fear and misconceptions on the part of the former, as he emphasizes.

“They’re all ultimately excuses,” he said, “fabrications of a collective society that’s lost its mind and stopped rewarding success a very long time ago but puts on a pretty good show, leading people to believe those rewards are there, if you just work hard enough.

“Unfortunately,” he added, “people like me serve as examples of what happens when you actually do work hard enough. People don’t want to believe stories like mine, which is OK. I don’t have to believe society’s narrative either.”

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